Sith Still Dominating International, Hits Yet Another Milestone
June 8, 2005
Revenge of the Sith's drop-offs were much shallower this weekend, which helped the film reach another milestone. Overall the added $38.5 million on 10,586 screens in 105 markets, pushing its international number to $308.4 million, virtually tied with its domestic total. The film is now in the Top 40 on the all-time international charts and Top 30 on the all-time worldwide charts. Compared to the rest of the Star Wars films, Revenge of the Sith is already ahead of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and should top Attack of the Clones by this time next week. It has a reasonable shot at eventually toppling A New Hope, but unless something freaky happens The Phantom Menace will remain the highest grossing entry in the franchise. (Which is ironic, since it is widely regarded as the weakest film.)
The film is coasting on holdovers at the moment, and will unit it opens in Japan early in July, but that doesn't mean it isn't dominating in most markets. The list of know $1 million markets include:
Those are amazing numbers, but the real test of the film's box office power won't start till it has to go head-to-head with other blockbuster films. And that won't really happen till the weekend after next.
Jumping up to second place was the ultra-violent, highly stylized Sin City with $11.5 million on an estimated 1750 screens in 15 markets for an early international total of $12.3 million. The film's highest gross came in the U.K. where it managed $4.45 million on 400 screens, but it topped the charts in Italy with $1.0 million for the weekend and $1.9 million since it debuted on Tuesday. The film also opened in second place in France with $2.3 million on 521 and in Russia with $1.1 million on 166 screens. In its only holdover, Taiwan, the film fell 51%, which is actually an above average result for the market. The film should easily beat its domestic total, and has a shot at $100 million internationally.
House of Wax opened in Germany and Mexico over the weekend, but failed to make an impact in either. Its German debut resulted in a fourth place finish with just $725,000 on 270 screens, while in Mexico it could only bring in $610,000 on 250. Its best market continues to be the U.K. where it slipped out of the top five with just $990,000 on 304 screens for a $3.75 million total. Overall the film added $5.1 million to its $17 million international total, but it's future is not as bright as it was last weekend.
Madagascar opened in its first midlevel international market earning a stunning first place finish with $3.1 million in Russia, 28% better than Shrek 2. On the other hand, the film failed to impress in its debut in Turkey managing just $260,000 on 112 screens. Overall the film doubled its international box office over the weekend adding $3.9 million to its $6.8 million total.
Rounding out the top five was Kingdom of Heaven, which added $3.5 million to its $151.4 million international total. Good news, that is more than triple its domestic score. Bad news, it's less than half what it needed to earn to show a profit.
Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge
Filed under: International Box Office, Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith, Madagascar, Sin City, Kingdom of Heaven, House of Wax